The Best Restaurants on Mercer Island
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The signature duck at Vivienne's Bistro.
Image: Amber Fouts
Sure, Mercer Island's central location means it's easy to zip over to Bellevue or Seattle. But some homegrown spots offer burgers, flatbread, and forbidden duck closer to home.
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Vivienne's Bistro chef Danna Hwang.
Image: Amber Fouts
Vivienne's Bistro
A dining room filled with high-backed booths and wooden lanterns serves modern Cantonese dishes—like a squid ink rice baked with cheese—by chef Danna Hwang. The Forbidden Roast Duck platter forms the centerpiece of most meals here: A five-spiced bird with crackling skin arrives with a DIY array of herbs, radish, delicate lemon slices, and monogrammed bao buns.
The Roanoke Inn
The tavern food (burgers, BLTs, chili) is pleasant enough. But Mercer Island’s oldest business is adored for its historic charm, for its ready supply of beverages, and for a massive rear garden where each table essentially occupies its own gazebo.
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A former service station now fuels up Mercer Island residents with burgers and fries.
Image: Amber Fouts
Hap's Burgers and Taps
A service station turned roadside burger joint serves uncomplicated, tasty burgers, fries, and shakes. Hap’s shares ownership with Homegrown, and its commitment to conscious sourcing; patties are grass-fed and ingredients skew local. The converted gas station setup means most seating is outdoors.
Pogacha
The name refers to Croatia’s traditional round flatbreads, baked in a wood-fired oven. At this casual grill, it surfaces everywhere from burger buns to lunchtime sandwiches and pogacha-based pizzas, which come topped with Adriatic-inspired combinations like mushroom lemon pesto. Housemade pasta stands out elsewhere on the menu.
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Mioposto offers pizza and neighborly vibes.
Image: Feed It Creative
Mioposto
The pizza restaurant (with three other locations in Seattle) has a knack for meeting the neighborhood’s needs, from lunchtime meatball sandwiches to brunch favorites (hash, shakshuka, and yes, bacon-and-egg pizza) served every morning. And of course, the pizza—puffy and flame-blistered, topped with potatoes and fontina and gorgonzola, or sausage, salami, and pepperoni. At dinner, parents order cocktails while kids get their own eight-inch pies.